﻿XL 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  THE 
  DIRECTOR 
  

  

  as 
  to 
  tlic 
  civilized 
  mind. 
  In 
  speaking 
  of 
  the 
  theology 
  of 
  the 
  

   North 
  American 
  Indians 
  as 
  being 
  zoomorphic 
  it 
  must 
  therefore 
  

   be 
  understood 
  to 
  mean 
  that 
  such 
  is 
  its 
  chief 
  characteristic, 
  but 
  

   not 
  its 
  exclusive 
  characteristic; 
  and 
  further, 
  it 
  must 
  be 
  under- 
  

   stood 
  that 
  it 
  contains 
  by 
  survival 
  many 
  elements 
  from 
  an 
  

   earlier 
  condition 
  in 
  which 
  hecastotheism 
  prevailed, 
  that 
  is, 
  that 
  

   the 
  form 
  of 
  philosophy 
  known 
  as 
  animism 
  was 
  generally 
  ac- 
  

   cepted, 
  and 
  that 
  psychic 
  life, 
  with 
  feeling, 
  thought, 
  and 
  will, 
  

   was 
  attributed 
  to 
  inanimate 
  things. 
  But 
  more 
  than 
  this, 
  

   zootheism 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  permanent 
  state 
  of 
  philosophy, 
  but 
  only 
  a 
  

   stepping-stone 
  to 
  something 
  higher. 
  That 
  something 
  higher 
  

   may 
  be 
  denominated 
  physitheism, 
  or 
  the 
  worship 
  of 
  the 
  powers 
  

   and 
  more 
  obtrusive 
  phenomena 
  of 
  nature. 
  In 
  this 
  higher 
  state 
  

   the 
  sun, 
  the 
  planets, 
  the 
  stars, 
  the 
  winds, 
  the 
  storms, 
  the 
  rain- 
  

   bow, 
  and 
  tire 
  take 
  the 
  leading 
  part. 
  The 
  beginnings 
  of 
  this 
  

   higher 
  state 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  observed 
  in 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  mythologies 
  of 
  

   North 
  America. 
  It 
  is 
  worthy 
  of 
  remark 
  that 
  a 
  mythology 
  

   with 
  its 
  religion 
  subject 
  to 
  the 
  influences 
  of 
  an 
  overwhelm- 
  

   ing 
  civilization 
  yields 
  first 
  in 
  its 
  zoomorphic 
  elements. 
  Zoic 
  

   mythology 
  soon 
  degenerates 
  into 
  folk 
  tales 
  of 
  beasts, 
  to 
  be 
  

   recited 
  by 
  crones 
  to 
  children 
  or 
  told 
  by 
  garrulous 
  old 
  men 
  as 
  

   amusing 
  stories 
  inherited 
  from 
  past 
  generations; 
  while 
  phy- 
  

   sitheism 
  is 
  more 
  often 
  incorporated 
  into 
  the 
  compound 
  of 
  

   paganism 
  and 
  Christianity 
  now 
  held 
  by 
  the 
  more 
  advanced 
  

   tribes. 
  Notwithstanding 
  this 
  general 
  tendency, 
  zootheism 
  is 
  

   often, 
  though 
  not 
  to 
  so 
  great 
  an 
  extent, 
  compounded 
  in 
  the 
  

   same 
  way. 
  The 
  study 
  of 
  this 
  stage 
  of 
  mythology, 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  

   arts 
  and 
  customs 
  arising 
  therefrom, 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  exhibited 
  

   among 
  the 
  North 
  American 
  Indians, 
  will 
  ultimately 
  throw 
  a 
  

   flood 
  of 
  light 
  upon 
  that 
  later 
  stage 
  known 
  as 
  physitheism, 
  or 
  

   nature 
  worship, 
  now 
  the 
  subject 
  of 
  investigation 
  by 
  an 
  army 
  

   of 
  Aryan 
  scholars. 
  

  

  